


What Luck

by generalatomicsgalleria (charmingotter)



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Canon Typical Violence, Christmas, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, mention of Nate, mentions of Duncan and Lucy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 01:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8947807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmingotter/pseuds/generalatomicsgalleria
Summary: While struggling with the ice cold bummer that is the holidays, MacCready is forced to be Magnolia's date Christmas Eve night and, of course, something goes wrong. Because something always goes wrong. Christmas at the State House is a mess, but at the end of the day, MacCready knows he wouldn't trade his put-together, ragtag little family of weirdos for anything.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheWriterOfFira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWriterOfFira/gifts).



> _“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”_

_Knock, knock_ ; a quiet banging came at his door. His hand instinctively shot under his pillow, his fingers wrapping comfortably around his pistol. The door opened quietly, floorboards squeaking under someone's feet. 

“Don't shoot. It's me,” a familiar voice said. 

MacCready groaned. “Lou,” he grumbled, pulling the pistol out from under the pillow and dropping it on the floor with a blunt ‘ _thud_ ’. He didn't turn over to look at her. “Go away. I’m tired.” 

She ignored him and plopped herself right down beside him on the bed. “Sun sent me.” He heard her flick the lamp on beside the bed and squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t ready to face the day yet. It was too cold and too wet for him to even want to get out of bed for the next week or so. 

“Okay,” he shrugged. “And?”

“And,” Lou said, “she wanted me to invite you over for Christmas at the State House.” She pulled his blanket off of him, letting the cold shock him awake. 

Disgruntledly, he turned over and cracked an eye open at her. Big brown eyes stared back at him, daring him to try and take the blanket it back. She had already wrapped it around herself and was getting comfortable. 

“That’s mine,” he hissed, pulling at one of the corners. 

Lou snorted. “Mine now.” She pulled it tighter around herself, refusing to let him have even an inch. 

“Fine,” he mumbled, pulling his pillow down over his chest, settling for anything he could get. “Why does Sun want me there for Christmas, though?” He asked. All things considered he hadn't thought that he'd be invited to their little shindig. It was a little strange that he was, actually. 

Lou frowned at him. “Cause Sun loves you and you’re part of our ragtag makeshift family we got going here?” She offered with a roll of her eyes. 

“If you don't wanna tell me just say so,” MacCready told her with a shake of his head. “And it's a little short notice by the way; Christmas Eve is tomorrow. Can't say I'm gonna have the time, or the caps,” he added, “to get anybody presents.”

“She said don't worry about presents. All you gotta do is show up.” 

He sighed. Of course Sun would be all nice about it and not ask him for anything. She always had to make it hard to say no to her. “When should I be there?” He finally asked. 

Lou gave him an incredulous look. “Christmas, dumbass.”

“I meant the time,” he grumbled. 

She shrugged. “Christmas.” 

MacCready rolled his eyes. She obviously didn't know. “Fine. I'll be there. Anything else or can I go back to sleep now?” He put his pillow over his face. Yesterday had been too long of a day for this one to be starting out early. 

Lou hummed, tapping her fingernails against the bedside table. “Well,” she drawled, “I kinda, sorta set you up on a date tomorrow.”

MacCready’s head snapped up. “What?” _Surely_ , he had heard her wrong. He better have heard her wrong. 

“A date.” She smiled, giving him her best impression of an innocent young girl. “With Magnolia,” she told him. “You’re what I got her for Christmas.” She almost sounded proud of that fact. 

“No!” He sputtered out. “I am not going anywhere! With anyone! Especially not Magnolia!”

“You are,” Lou insisted. “You're gonna go on this date and you're gonna enjoy yourself and you know why? Cause you owe me a favor and this is it,” she told him, her voice level and smooth as silk. It was obvious that she had learned more from Nick than just how to pick a lock by now. 

“I'm not going on a date with Magnolia.” It wasn’t that he had anything against Magnolia. He liked her. He really did…He just wasn't down for that whole fucking for sport thing she had going on with her friends. 

“Whether you like it or not you owe me and you're going on this date.” Lou smiled sweetly at him. 

“Excuse me?” 

She rolled her eyes. “You remember the incident with the ferals up in Lexington?” She asked. “That time I saved your ass from the angel of death and you said you owed me one?” She poked him in the chest roughly. “‘Member that? Yeah, well, I'm cashing in.” 

“You can't seriously-”

“I am though,” Lou cut him off. “You're going on the date, Mac. I'm not taking no for an answer.” She stood up, throwing his blanket back in his face. “And don't forget to wear some nice clothes--Magnolia wants a date, not a hobo.” She was gone and out the door by the time he had clawed managed to claw the blanket off his head. 

He forced himself out of the bed and toward the half open door. He stuck his head out, leaning against the doorframe. “I’m not a hobo!” 

She stopped halfway down the hall and threw her head back laughing. “You live in a hotel, Mac! You ain’t that far away,” she turned around to look at him and laughed again, the high pitched sound filling the empty hallways. 

He knew she was right, but he still had enough dignity to call back. “Don't start with me on being a hobo! I found you living in a dumpster!”

“Ya got me there,” she said, her shaggy blonde head and voice both dipping a little. He would have felt bad if not for the next words that came out of her mouth. “But the only reason you found me was ‘cause you were looking for food in the dumpster, so I mean really? Are either of us winners in this situation?” She snorted, pulling her coat tighter around her. “Meet me at Power Noodles at ten,” she told him. “We gotta find you some new clothes.”

He watched her walk away and sighed. He wasn't gonna be catching up on sleep any time soon and now he not only had a date but plans for Christmas. Wasn't that just frickin’ dandy? He shook his head, walking back into his room to find some warm clothes.

 

*******************

 

Power Noodles--the entire Diamond City Market really--was near vacant. The only occupants were the few vendors and Lou. Probably because it was freezing cold and nobody wanted salty noodles _that_ bad. Lou seemed to have bought herself a cup to keep her hands warm, though, judging by how she was hunched over it, coat and scarf pulled tight, hat pulled down over her ears and only the tiniest bit of her short blonde hair poking out from under it. 

Still, MacCready had donned the bulkiest clothes he owned and the cold still managed to cut through all of it. That flimsy trench coat Nick gave her must have been like tissue paper in comparison. 

“Does Nick know you’re out in this freezing weather?” He asked, taking a seat beside her. 

Lou snorted, “No.” 

He hummed. He hadn't expected any less. If he was a smart man he would have tagged her out too, but he wasn't sure what he’d do the rest of the day without her, so he left it be. “Remind me again why I’m out in this freezing cold,” he said, taking her cup of noodles from her and grabbing a pair of chopsticks near by. 

Wrestling a few noodles into his mouth with his less than elegant chopsticks skills he listened to her talk about how his clothes looked like he had been wearing them for years and had just been patching them up ever since. He was glad for the noodles in his mouth or he would have had to tell her she was right. 

Lou tilted her head up to the gray sky above, her already slightly upturned nose wrinkling. “Come on, I think’s it’s about to start raining.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the noodle stand. “I asked Becky if she had any fancy clothes that might fit you and she said she didn't know, but we could look,” she told him, opening up the door to Fallon’s Basement and pushing him in ahead of her. 

“Close the door,” the owner, Becky, snapped at them immediately. Lou shut it swiftly and apologized to Becky for letting the cold in, but really it wasn't much warmer inside than it had been outside. There was no wind and no rain though, so at least there was that. 

“Why do I need ‘fancy’ clothes?” He asked, returning to the issue at hand. 

“Well, Magnolia wants to go to this jazz club she sings at sometimes and they have like this thing?” She frowned. “You have to dress up in pre-war clothes. I don't really know why?” She sounded like she hadn't really asked many questions about this place when setting this up, MacCready thought. “Whatever the reason, you have to wear a suit or something though,” Lou told him, already moving to look around the store for the clothes he apparently needed.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But only because I owe you. That’s the only reason I’m doing this, okay? I owe you. That’s it.” He wanted to make that very clear. To her and to Magnolia. This was not because he wanted to. It was because he owed Lou a favor and that was it!

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” She pulled out a white shirt and held it up to his chest. “Should fit,” she mumbled to herself, eyeing him and the shirt closely before handing it off to him. “You can try it on in a minute.” 

“Are we still going on a scrap run tomorrow morning?” MacCready asked, following her around the tiny shop. 

“Mmmm, no,” she said, picking up, then putting down a pair of pants. “Ruby wants me to come with her to her mom’s house out in the middle of nowhere.” Lou turned to look at him. “She's gotta go by this Super Mutant camp and it always scares her ‘cause one time they sent their dogs after her and she doesn't really go back through now unless it's a special occasion or an emergency,” she informed him, handing him a pair of black pants and a matching jacket. “She asked me to go with her for protection and I said I would.” She laughed. “I'll be damned if I let Super Mutants antagonize my girlfriend.”

“Ooooh, big word. Pick that one up from Nick?” He asked snidely. Lou kicked him in the shin, but otherwise ignored the comment. 

MacCready gave a small sigh, knowing she was no longer paying much attention to him. He couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by the news, really. He had been looking forward to their little outing. Their trips had been becoming less and less lately, since Lou was spending most of her time with Nick and Ruby. MacCready had been missing his best friend for a while now. That was alright though. She was moving on and making a name for herself just like anybody else. Admittedly, it was a bit hard to let her go because of how much she reminded him of Duncan, but he could do it. He could let her go. He could let _both_ of them go. 

“There,” Lou interrupted his thought, adding a pair of dress shoes to the stack of clothing in his arms. “I think that’s everything.”

MacCready looked down at what was in his hands. “Yeah,” he shrugged. “Guess that looks like a suit.”

“Everything but the tie,” she said. “And that you can borrow from Hancock.”

“I’m not gonna wear a tie.” First it was the date, then it was the suit, now it was a tie. God, she asked a lot of him. 

She gave him another sharp look. She was getting annoyingly good at those, he thought, resisting the urge to look away. Another fun talent she must have picked up from her beloved detective. She was gonna make a damn fine detective herself one day at this rate. She looked and acted the part now. “You’ll wear a tie or I’ll break your legs.” And there was the scrappy teenager he found in a dumpster. 

If she hasn't sounded so dead serious, he would have laughed. He sighed and rolled his eyes, “I'll pick it up tomorrow before the date.”

Lou smiled, content with his answer for now. She took the clothes from him and set them on the counter for Becky. Lou, of course, started chattering with her about some nonsense with Nick and a case, but MacCready didn’t say anything. The quicker they were done here the quicker they had to go back outside in the cold, so for once he wasn’t bothered by her habit of lingering and talking to people. “So, where am I supposed to be meeting Magnolia, anyway?” He asked, handing over his caps when prompted.

Lou handed the caps to Becky and him his bag of clothing. “Outside the Third Rail at around five-ish tomorrow. She’ll be the one in the black dress freezing her ass off.”

 

***********************

The cold was as biting as ever as he trudged across the street from the hotel to the State House. He almost hadn’t gotten up this morning, but the threat of Lou breaking his legs weighed on his mind long enough to give him the energy to get going. Now, he wasn’t sure it was worth it. 

Thankfully, it was a short walk and he didn't have to trudge through the cold for too long at the moment. There was a single guard by the door but he barely acknowledged MacCready, only glancing at him as he walked into the building. All the other guards must have realized it was too cold for this shit and stayed at home. 

He wasn't really much of a Christmas person, but MacCready couldn’t help but feel a bit in awe of what Sun had done as he looked around. The State House was lit up like...well, Christmas. 

Last year, Hancock had only let her put up a tree. This year, Sun had decorated the entire building; inside and out, top to bottom. Hancock had just thrown up his hands and told her good luck and he wasn't gonna help her take everything down come January. 

MacCready was pretty sure she had dragged him and Lou all the way out to some old party store to get all the lights and garland, but he wasn't sure. He'd have to remember to ask when he saw her. 

Going up the stairs he could see the glow of the Christmas tree from what Sun had taken to calling the ’living room’ and as he got closer, he could hear her singing. He didn't go in to say hello, though. The less people who saw him in this ridiculous suit the better. It was bad enough Hancock was gonna see it, he wasn't going to let Sun see just for funsies. 

Ignoring the singing and the Christmas tree glow, MacCready went across the hall to the bedroom slash office where he knew he’d find Hancock. 

He stopped halfway through the door, realizing he hadn’t even knocked. Luckily, the Mayor of Goodneighbor wasn’t completely naked...only half. The ghoul only had his pants on. And those just barely. He had stopped too, hands not even done buttoning them up. “Can I help you?” He asked, half laughing at MacCready’s shocked expression before continuing to button up his pants and turn around to grab his shirt.

Embarrassment washed over him like an uncomfortable wave. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Umm, well,” he began. “Lou said if I didn’t wear a tie she would break my legs and that I could borrow one from you.”

Hancock chuckled. “‘Course she did,” he said, though MacCready wasn't sure about which part he meant. Hancock pointed to the dresser on the other side of the room. “Bottom drawer on the right,” he said and sat down on the end of the bed to pull on his boots, shirt apparently forgotten already. 

The drawer was a mess of course. MacCready rifled through it, moving aside shirts and various drug paraphernalia items before finding any ties. There were only three of them it seemed; a green, a red, and a black. He held up the green one for inspection. “This one?” 

Hancock barely glanced up before giving a short hoot of laughter.“No, that one’s for Saint Patrick's Day, Mac.” He shook his head. 

Mac picked up the black one, not liking how bright the red one was. “Better?” Hancock nodded his approval. “Great,” he mumbled, putting the slim piece fabric around his neck and then pulling it right back off. “I can’t tie this,” he realized stupidly. 

He looked up to find that Hancock was on the floor, still only halfway dressed with one boot on, halfway under his desk on the opposite side of the room. “Sun’s across the hall. She can tie it for you,” Hancock told him, not bothering to look up. 

MacCready had his hand on the doorknob and was about to leave, but paused for a second, considering whether he should ask Hancock if he needed help with whatever it was he was doing, but dismissed the thought with a shake of the head. Whatever Hancock was doing he was sure he didn’t want any part of it. 

 

The doors that had been open when he came in were now closed and the singing had ceased. He paused to knock this time, waiting for Sun’s bubbly voice to tell him to come in.

“Hey, Sun,” he spoke quietly, coming through the door. Sun was fiddling with an ornament on the tree, the lights making her pale face glow. There were Christmas decorations in every direction he looked. Even above his head it seemed. Mistletoe. He wrinkled his nose, stepping out from under it immediately. That was definitely a Christmas tradition he would rather see die. 

Sun spun around, the ornament she had been tinkering with forgotten. “Oh my God. Where have you been, Mac? I haven't seen you in forever.” Sun looked surprised—though not unhappy—to see him. “I thought you had a date with Magnolia today,” she said. Like Hancock, Sun looked like she was trying to get dressed too, though she had definitely made more progress than her counterpart across the hall. All Sun was missing were her shoes. Her bare toes wiggled against the wooden floor. 

He looked back up at her, realizing he had been staring at her feet for a weirdly long time now. “I do, but uh...” He held up the tie, “I need some help,” he confessed. 

Sun laughed lightly, taking the tie from him. “You and John need to learn how to tie your own ties,” she told him, flipping his collar up and pulling the tie around. 

MacCready merely shrugged. She was probably right, but he so rarely wore them it didn't seem worth the effort. Plus, he was lazy and didn't want to. 

“Glad to see you've taken this seriously though.” She finished the knot and cinched it up to his throat. “When Lou told me about the date, I thought you were gonna bail.” She smirked up at him, adjusting his shirt collar so it laid down properly. 

“Well, so did I,” MacCready admitted. He had considered the option a great deal between the time he woke up and the time he walked out the door. The threat of Lou and the thought of disappointing Magnolia had gotten him this far though. 

The worst part was the suit. It was cold and too clean for what he usually got up to. He glanced at himself in the mirror, almost afraid to see what he looked like. For once, he was pleasantly surprised. He didn't look like a complete mess, he thought. He missed his hat, but he supposed he could stand its absence for the night. 

Brushing something off his back, Sun told him, “Well, I'm glad you're going. You're always off by yourself so much. It'll be good for you to get out and do something that isn't work related.” She smiled at him in the mirror. 

“I get out plenty,” MacCready defended himself tersely. “Lou and I go out on scrap runs all the time.” A lie. They hadn't gone out in months now. 

Sun snorted delicately. “That's work, Mac.”

“No, it's not.”

“It is,” Sun told him, slipping into that voice; the one she used when she meant business. He knew better than to argue with that voice. 

“What's it matter anyway?” He sighed. “What exactly am I supposed to be doing if not working?”

“I don't know...Getting out of that stuffy hotel every once in awhile? Having some fun? Being around people besides me and Lou?”

“Why? The hotel is warm and I like you and Lou.”

Sun gave him a knowing look in the mirror. “We worry about you,” she told him sincerely. She patted his shoulders, smiling. “Magnolia will be good for you,” she said cheerfully. 

MacCready snorted. He highly doubted that. “Magnolia doesn't actually like me you know.” He turned back around to face Sun. “She just wants to jump my bones to be able to brag about it,” he laughed. It was no secret. Magnolia had made the fact painfully obvious by now. She was out to get him. One way or the other. 

“Maybe that's exactly what you need,” Sun laughed, stepping up to the mirror herself. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to tame her curls. He wasn't the only one with a date tonight he knew. Sun and Hancock had a not-so-long standing tradition of going to Union Hope Cathedral every Christmas Eve and paying their respects to those in the graveyard. For Hancock, it was his parents. For Sun, it was Nate.

She worried at the frayed part of her coat for a second before covering it over with her grey scarf. “How do I look?” Sun turned back to him with her arms spread. She had ditched her usual grey coat in favor of a thicker, warmer, black one. Her hat was nowhere to be found either, her long hair flying free. The only jewelry she wore was the chain at her throat. And on the chain were two rings: one from Nate, the metal tarnished and in desperate need of a polishing, the other from Hancock, a shining new contrast against the old. 

He nodded to her, eyes getting stuck on those rings. His own was sitting on his nightstand at the Rexford. Leaving that behind had bothered him far more than abandoning his hat. “Beautiful,” MacCready said automatically, nodding again, looking up to her clear blue eyes again. “Hancock’s a lucky man.”

“Damn straight,” Hancock spoke up from behind them. He gave Sun a once over, a sly smile on his face as he sauntered on over to them. Taking her hand he spun her around once before planting a kiss on her cheek. “And I’m thankful for this luck every damn day of my life,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. “You ready to head out, Sunshine?” He asked, earning him a light snack to the ribs for using her full name. He laughed, kissing her hand as an apology. “It's a hard habit to kick,” he murmured.

Playfully, she snatched her hand away from his. “Ah, but know all about kicking hard habits, don't you, John?” She asked, giving him a wink. 

Hancock leaned down to whisper something in her ear. 

MacCready scuffed his shoe against the floor, awkwardly looking away from the couple. They seemed to have forgotten he was there. 

“It's getting late though,” Sun finally said after a moment. “I’m ready if you are.” She pushed his hat back so she could see his face better. “Did you remember to grab that hat for Lou?” 

Without a word, he pulled a simple red knit hat out of his coat. Sun smiled delightedly, plucking it from his fingers. “I’m gonna borrow it until we get there. Don't tell her,” she said, pulling it on over her ears and pressing a finger to her lips. 

Hancock chuckled. “My lips are sealed.”

MacCready coughed awkwardly, trying to get their attention for a moment so he could say his peace and go. They looked over at him, each waiting for him to speak. “I’m gonna go,” MacCready said. “Thanks for the tie and everything. I appreciate it.” He nodded after a second and then made for the door as quick as possible, not waiting for them to say anything in return. 

**********************

Magnolia leaned against the side of the building, smoking while she waited for him. She wore a black dress just like Lou had said, and if how cold he was was anything to go by, she must have been freezing. If she was, she didn't mind enough to change into something warmer. Or more modest.

She smiled when she saw him approaching. “Aw, you dressed up all spiffy for me,” she said, stepping closer and trailing a finger down his chest. 

MacCready laughed awkwardly, taking her hand off his chest. “Yeah, I guess so. Hope it's not too much.”

Her lips curved into a sly smile, linking her arm through his. “Not at all. You look quite dashing.” She laughed, leaning into him. He allowed it, but couldn't help but lean away at the same time. 

They start walking, MacCready letting her lead ‘cause he sure as hell didn't know where he was going. “Where is this place exactly?” He asked, curiosity getting the better of him. 

“You know that old building that used to be Boylston Club?” He shrugged. It sounded familiar, but he wasn’t sure where that was exactly. “A couple a friends cleaned it up a while back and made it into a jazz club. Got rid of all the skeletons and the dust bunnies. Real nice now,” she told him, patting his arm. “You’re gonna love it.” 

MacCready nodded. “We’ll see, I guess.” He smiled politely. 

 

The walk was long, but surprisingly not as awkward as he thought it would be. Magnolia kept up an almost constant chatter about nothing in particular that would have kept any silence at bay. MacCready didn’t even have to say anything himself. Every once and awhile he would nod his head and hum when prompted. 

When they finally got there, though, MacCready had a momentary jolt of anxiety. There was no one there. No music. No nothing. Only a bare room and silence. Magnolia didn't look bothered by it. Still holding onto his arm, she lead him across the small, dusty room to an elevator. “You ready?” She asked, pressing the call button on the wall. 

“Sure,” he said, though he wasn't exactly sure of what he was supposed to be expecting here. 

The elevator doors opened and they stepped in. Magnolia grinned excitedly and pressed the button for the second floor.

When the doors dinged open again he was shocked by the sheer amount of people in the tiny room before them. All of them were dressed up in fancy pre-war clothes, he noticed. Lou had been right and he was glad of it, too. He would have felt out of place if he had worn his usual clothes here. 

There were tables set up throughout the room, most of them occupied, a bar on the far left side of the room and on the far right there was a makeshift stage where a band was setting up. Magnolia lead him closer to the stage, easily weaving her way through the crowd of people. 

“Well, hey there, Magnolia. We thought you weren’t gonna make it,” the woman at the microphone said, stepping down off the stage. She paused to pull down her short black dress before extending a hand to MacCready. “And you are?” She asked, looking down at him. It was hardly as if she could have looked up to him though; she was a good five inches or so taller than him. 

Shaking her hand carefully, he introduced himself. The woman raised her chin, brushing back her long black hair. “I'm Mary,” she said, and her tone almost made him squirm. The way she said it implied that he should have known that already and she shouldn't have had to tell him such common knowledge. She looked back at Magnolia questioningly. “Is he your date?”

Magnolia put an arm around him. “Oh yes, indeed. Lou’s gift to me this year,” she winked, giving his shoulder a tight squeeze. 

“That’d be sad if he weren’t so cute,” Mary chuckled, her brown eyes taking another swooping glance over him. 

“He cleans up nice. I'll give him that,” Magnolia joked, bumping her hip with his. MacCready looked down, hoping neither of them would notice his blushing.

“I'd say so,” Mary hummed. “Oh, and Magnolia, dear, before I forget, I set you up a table over there, just where you like.” Mary pointed a slim finger towards an empty table by one of the windows. “I’ve got to go help Jane at the bar, but I’ll stop back by your table before the end of the night.”

Magnolia smiled. “Thank you, Mary. Tell Jane I’ll be over to say hello. I wanna talk to James for a minute first though,” she said, looking past Mary now at the dark man sitting behind the drums. 

The man grinned broadly and tipped his hat to them. “How ya doing, Mags?” He asked, his voice rough and gravely. 

“Mighty fine, James, mighty fine. How’re you?” She asked, stepping up on stage to get closer to him. 

MacCready didn’t hear his response, but Mary stepped in front of him and placed a thin hand on his shoulder, “You have a good time tonight, MacCready. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other around.” 

“Thanks, I’m sure we will.” Honestly he doubted he’d ever be coming back to this place after tonight, but he appreciated the sentiment anyhow. She gave him a small pat and a tight smile before disappearing into the crowd. 

MacCready stepped up closer to the stage, but not on to it. He didn’t care to dance his way around all the band equipment and cords, so instead he listened to the conversation from the edge as best he could. 

“You better watch out,” the drummer warned. “Sam’s here and you know how he gets. Especially around you,” he said pointedly. 

“Who’s-”

“Magnolia!” MacCready’s question was cut off by a wild haired, half naked man bumping into him and jumping up on stage next to Magnolia. 

“Sam!” Magnolia greeted him brightly, but her smile was obviously fake. “I haven’t seen you in over a year,” she said as he put his arms around her and picked her up off the floor in a tight hug. “Thought you were worm food,” she laughed as he put her feet back on the floor and let go. More like hoped, MacCready thought, watching the man. Already he could see, this guy was gonna be trouble the entire night. 

Sam waved the comment away. “Ah, they ain’t got me yet,” he said.“Been down in Quincy lately. Selling scrap mostly. It’s hard work, but it keeps food on the table I guess. On the bright side, I get a decent price on a aluminum. Which, I guess, ain't the best of deals, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. What about you? You still in Goodneighbor?” He spoke quickly, all his sentences running together. It took a moment for MacCready to process them all. 

Magnolia rolled her eyes, pulling away from his hands that had continued to linger on her body long after the hug had ended. “Of course. I won’t ever leave that place,” she said casually. “It’s good to hear you’re still up and about though.” As an afterthought, she added, “Are you here to sing?” 

“You betcha,” he told her proudly. “Mary and Jane invited me up when I ran into ‘em last week. Said they were gonna be having a lotta singers comin’ down for Christmas.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “That why you’re here? We could go up together, y’know? Duets are always fun.” He spread his arms wide. “Come on, Mags. Humor an old friend, eh?”

She laughed awkwardly, stepping a little closer to MacCready at the edge of the stage now. “Sorry, Sam. I’m here on a date.” Nodding to MacCready, she added, “And I don’t think he wants me to leave him to go sing.”

“Well, why not? I would give my left arm to hear you sing. If this bozo doesn’t think the same he ain't worth it anyway.” 

“I really just came here to listen tonight,” she said. “ And,” she added playfully, “It’d be rude to ditch my friend just to go sing with the likes of you.”

Sam looked down at MacCready as if only noticing him for the first time. “Well,” he began begrudgingly, “he could join up with us. The more the merrier, as they say. Make it a trio.” He grinned and grabbed MacCready’s arm, trying to haul him up on stage with them. 

MacCready gave a bark of laughter, snatching his arm back. “Thanks, but, no. Not my thing.”

There was a beat of awkward silence where none of them spoke. Sam gave MacCready a hard look, but MacCready didn’t shy away, staring right back at the wild man. Finally, Magnolia stepped down off the stage, linking her arm through MacCready’s again. “Let’s go sit down,” she said, pulling him away. They left Sam standing there without another word. 

Once they had sat down MacCready couldn’t help but ask, “So, what’s that guys deal?” Whatever it was, Sam didn't sit right with MacCready. There was something off. Almost as bad as that Pickman guy Sun introduced to him that time. 

Magnolia rolled her eyes. “He’s been obsessed with me since we dated about five years ago. Every time we cross paths he tries to ‘win me back’,” she put air quotes around the words. She shook her head. “He’s harmless, mostly. I mean, annoying, but he wouldn’t hurt anybody.” 

 

MacCready hummed. 

“You want somethin’ to drink?” She asked after a second. 

“Not really,” he said. Mostly because he was sure if he drank he was gonna do something he would really regret in the morning. 

“Well, I do. I’m gonna go get one and say hi to Jane. Don’t get into trouble while I’m gone,” she said and rapped her knuckles twice on the table as she stood up. 

With her gone, MacCready took the opportunity to pull out his cigarettes and struggle with his shoddy lighter to get one lit. If he was lucky that might actually happen before she got back. Desperately, he flicked at the lighter, trying to get a flame to appear. “Please,” he pleaded with it, holding the cigarette between his lips. 

“You need help with that?” Magnolia asked quietly, setting her drink down on the table. “Cause I got another lighter in my bag...One that’ll actually work.” She put her hand on the back of his neck, fingertips stroking his hair. 

He shivered at the contact but managed to speak evenly as he looked up at her. “If you don’t mind.” He tucked his own lighter back into his pocket. 

She picked up her bag to find hers. After a moment, she said, “Here,” and quickly sparked the lighter with her thumb. The flame appeared effortlessly. He nodded his thanks and quickly lit his cigarette. 

“What is the heck’s in your drink?” He asked, noticing for the first time that there was something gray bobbing around in the bottom. 

Magnolia frowned, giving it a look herself. “Dunno. I think Mary said it was an olive? Some kinda pre-war thing.” She shrugged. He nodded, but still frowned at the drink. He’d have to ask Sun about that tomorrow. He wondered if she would laugh at him like she did the time he asked about ‘skunks’.

Magnolia hummed, stirring her drink with her finger. “So, you got any plans for tomorrow?” She eyed him across the table. 

“Everyone wants me to come over to the State House with everybody,” he told her. “Well, Sun and Lou,” he amended. He wasn't sure how Hancock felt about it. Although, if MacCready had to guess he probably wasn't overjoyed by the thought. A good reason not to go, he thought. 

“Are you going?” She raised a delicate eyebrow. 

He shrugged. Much like this date, he would go whether he wanted to or not. “I guess so,” he said, then, when he remembered his manners, “What about you? Are you going to be doing anything?”

Slowly, Magnolia nodded. “I don't know...Maybe. I think so.” She shrugged, frowning. “My brother’s suppose to be coming up to see me,” she said and for once since their date started, her shoulders and her smile dropped. “He...might not make it though...I haven’t heard from him in a while.” She bit her lip.

He frowned, taking another drag from his cigarette. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“He doesn’t really hang around anywhere too long. He stays in touch though, one way or another, but I haven’t heard from him since Halloween,” she confessed, not meeting his eye. She ran a finger along the rim of her glass gently. “I’m worried something happened to him.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” MacCready told her, because that’s just what you say when someone tells you something like that. “Maybe he just hasn’t been able to get in contact with you lately,” he offered. “I mean, that sorta thing has happened way more than once with me and Duncan,” he said and frowned. That's probably what they thought was happening now. 

Magnolia nodded, looking away and dabbing at her eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. He’s fine,” she tried to smile, but her red rimmed eyes gave her away. “When he gets here though, I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind. He knows better than to worry me like this.” She shook her finger in his face, trying to smile again. 

MacCready laughed, trying to smile for her. “You should. He’ll deserve it.”

Taking a good gulp of her drink Magnolia sighed and propped her elbow up on the table, putting her chin in her palm. “Hey, you mentioned Duncan. Is he gonna be coming for Christmas?”

MacCready shook his head. “No,” he said, “he’s not.” He took a long drag from his cigarette, trying not to think about it. 

A few months ago MacCready had purposely stopped communication with him and the family taking care of him. It was for the best he had decided. Duncan had started calling the couple ‘mom’ and ‘dad’. It wasn’t unreasonable, though he had to admit, it hurt. That was how it had to be though. He had accepted that. And as long as Duncan was happy and safe that was all he needed to know. At least that’s what he was trying to convince himself. 

Noticing his lapse of silence, Magnolia reached across the table to put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.” 

“It’s fine. I just...don’t like talking about it.” 

“Have you-” She was interrupted by the sound of glass shattered and then, out of nowhere, a bottle came flying towards MacCready, missing his head by inches.

“What the hell?!” He looked around to see who threw it and immediately spotted Sam standing on top of the bar. Sam, seeing MacCready’s reaction, threw his head back laughing. He had a half full bottle of gin in his hand. Taking a good swig of gin, he called across the room, “Almost gotcha there.” He grinned. 

People looked between the two of them in shock. MacCready squirmed under their gaze, but stood up. “We were gonna sing,” Sam slurred out, pointing at Magnolia now. “We we're gonna sing and be happy! We’re in love! You can’t take her away!” He took another drink of gin. “We were gonna sing,” he said again. Magnolia knocked back the rest of her drink and stood up with him. 

Sam chugged the last of the gin before throwing that bottle at MacCready too. He just barely ducked in time to avoid being hit. MacCready looked at the shattered glass behind him and sighed. Why did these things always have to happen to him? “Sam, maybe you should get down before you do something you regret,” he said, loud enough for him to hear. 

Sam laughed again. “Like what?”

MacCready made his way towards the bar, people moving out of the way to let him through. “I don’t know.” He looked up at the other man as he got closer. “Something stupid, I guess, but I bet you do stuff like that all the time.” He couldn't help but smirk at his own joke. 

Sam let out an awful roar and proceeded to jump off the bar into MacCready. Vaguely, MacCready heard a woman screech as she tried to get out of the way of them as his head hit the ground. 

For a second he saw stars, barely managing to move his head enough so Sam didn’t punch him directly in the eye. Someone, his guardian angel he thought, managed to pull Sam off of him for long enough so that he could stand. He was back on the ground almost instantly. One good punch and he was on his knees, blood streaming down his face. “Fuck,” he mumbled, looking down at the red drips on his white shirt. 

Magnolia slid between the two of them before Sam could hit him again. A gleam of silver in her hand caught his eye. “Now, Sam,” she said tersely. “Maybe you ought to reconsider what’s going on here and go sit back down before things get real ugly.” The barrel of a gun sticking in in his gut made it hard to miss her meaning. Sam stopped, but didn’t move away. She cocked the pistol. “Don’t think I won’t, Sam.” 

 

Around them the people stared, all holding their breath to see what would happen. After a long moment of hesitation, Sam took a step back. There was an almost audible sigh of relief from everyone in the club. 

The drummer and another man both grabbed Sam by the arms and lead to a table across the room to sit down. Magnolia turned to MacCready, pistol still in hand. “You alright?” She asked, bending down to his level. She cupped his chin, turning his face to get a good look at his bleeding head. 

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, pushing her away. “I’m good.” It was just blood. He’d taken much worse beatings before. “Just, uh, just gimme that rag,” he told her, pointing to the cloth on the bar that was probably being used to mop up spilled booze. He didn’t much care though, all he needed right now was something to stop blood from gushing down into his eye. 

Magnolia handed it over without a word. “Thanks,” he said, pressing it against the split skin. The alcohol on the rag made it burn, but it got the job done. Wearily, he stood, using the edge of the bar to pull himself up. He nodded to the woman he and Sam had almost landed on in their altercation. “Sorry ‘bout that.” 

She said nothing back. Magnolia took his arm again, the action becoming almost habitual at this point, but it was more for his benefit now than hers. “Come on,” she said. “It’s time to go home.”

He laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he said, letting her lead him. He caught Mary’s eye as they made for the elevator. “See ya around,” he told her and could have sworn he saw her smirk.

******************

Magnolia turned the doorknob and pushed the door open with her hip. “You got any first-aid supplies? I could patch up that cut for you.” She lead him over to the bed. 

“On the dresser,” he said, letting go of her and sitting down. The day had stretched on too long and he was more than exhausted. Closing his eyes, he fell back into the mattress. 

Magnolia sat down next to him on the bed. “You looked nice in your tux tonight,” she told him, taking the bloody bar rag from his hand. “Even if you did get blood on it by the end of the night,” she added and he could tell even without opening his eyes that she was grinning. “I shouldn’t have been surprised though, Lou did warn me you were prone to these sorts of things.” She chuckled. 

He said nothing, not finding the humor in his bad luck. “Hold still,” she murmured, but he still flinched when she started dabbing at the broken skin to clean it. “Not used to you without your hat though,” she told him. “You look different without it.” Carefully, she pressed a bandage to his head. “And done.”

He sighed, half nodding. Sleep was trying it's damndest to drag him down. “Lou told me not to wear it,” he mumbled. 

“Did Lou tell you not to wear this too?” She asked quietly. 

MacCready opened his eyes to see what she meant. She had his wedding ring in her hand. He took it from her without a word, fingers curling around it protectively. 

Magnolia watched him curiously. “What was her name?” She asked quietly. 

After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Lucy.”

“Do you miss her?”

“What?” He asked, the question catching him off guard. 

“Lucy,” she waved a finger towards his ring. “Do you miss her?” Slowly, he nodded, unsure of where she was going with this. “Then why leave it?” 

He shrugged, looking away from her. “It felt wrong,” he sighed, slipping it back on his finger. It had felt wrong to wear it, it had felt wrong to leave it. “And,” he continued, closing his eyes again, “I guess I wanted to give you a chance.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Magnolia said. A second later he felt her lips pressed against his. He didn’t know how to react, not sure whether to kiss her back or push her away, but after a moment of him not responding at all, she broke away. “Sorry,” she whispered. 

“No,” he said. “I'm sorry. Not to sound cliche, but uh, it’s not you, it’s me.” He swallowed roughly. “You don't have to be sorry, Magnolia.” 

She laughed lightly. “It’s okay,” she told him and smiled kindly. “Another time,” she said and it sounded like a promise. “I hope your head feels better tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“Merry Christmas, MacCready.” She kissed his cheek gently. Quietly, she got up and made her way towards the door. Giving him one last glance over her shoulder she left him. 

MacCready sighed throwing an arm over his eyes. Life just couldn't give him a break, could it? The best course of action was obviously ignoring it though. Obviously. He groaned aloud, curling up into a ball and pulling a blanket over himself. Sleep swept over him quickly, exhaustion making it easy tonight. 

****************************

It was so cold when he woke up he almost didn’t drag himself out of bed. The only thing that got him moving was knowing that if he doesn’t somebody, probably Hancock, was gonna come get him up and it wouldn’t be pleasant. Last time it was a cold pitcher of water to the face, he was afraid to find out what might be next. 

He dressed in a daze, shucking off the tux he hadn’t bothered to take off last night and pulling on his usual attire. It felt good to have his hat back on. He had missed it. His ring too. It had felt weird without it last night. 

He walked into the lobby half asleep. He waved at the woman behind the front desk. “Morning, Clair,” he said. 

“Merry Christmas,” she told him stiffly, not looking up from her magazine. 

 

Outside it was even colder and just starting to snow. “Well, isn’t that just dandy,” he mumbled up towards the sky, shuffling across the vacant, snowy street towards the State House. He didn’t bother knocking, only pausing to stomp the snow off his boots before going inside. 

“Hey, watch it,” Hancock grumbled, catching the door before it hit him.

“Why are you in the closet?” MacCready asked, edging through the doorway. 

Hancock lifted up a half empty bottle of whiskey. “Taking the edge off.” He gave MacCready a once over. “You get laid last night.”

MacCready shook his head tiredly at the ghoul. “No,” he said. “Thanks for asking though. I take it everybody else is upstairs?” 

He chuckled, “Yeah, I mighta had to leave for a drink or two when Nick started argueing with Sun about the proper way to drink coffee.” He offered the bottle to MacCready. “You want some?”

MacCready eyed the bottle for a moment, considering it, but waved it away. He wasn't much of a day drinker. He might drink a brewery's worth later, but it was too early for that now. 

“More for me then.” Hancock brought the bottle to his lips one last time before screwing the top back on before sticking it back in the closet. “Up we go,” he declared, closing the door and moving ahead of MacCready. 

 

Sun pounced on him as soon as he walked through the door, throwing her arms around his neck excitedly. “I was beginning to wonder if you were gonna come,” she told him, only letting go after he had hugged her back. Looking over her shoulder he counted six heads, including Hancock, Nick, Lou, Ruby, and surprisingly enough Deacon and Preston. From the looks of it, Sun had managed to get all of them, except Hancock and Nick into Santa hats. He wondered if he was next. 

“Hey.” He waved at everyone. “Merry Christmas.” 

“Merry Christmas,” Nick said, not moving from his spot in the only armchair in the room. He held what was probably his own Santa hat in his hands, playing with the pompom on the end. 

Ruby waved at him from behind Lou, who sat in her lap. “Hey, Mac.” She smiled at him. “Been a while.” 

“MacCready.” Preston lifted his mug up as a hello. 

Deacon merely waved, not looking up from the book he had in his hands. 

“Merry Christmas,” Lou told him, getting up from her girlfriend's lap walking over to hug him too. 

Sun brushed snow off his shoulders as they hugged. “Well, you’re here just in time,” she told him, more than an ounce of sarcasm lacing her words. “Ruby just asked to hear all about my pre-war adventures.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “Aren't you ready to hear all my terrible stories?”

“I hear enough of those on already,” he complained, sitting down beside Ruby.

Ruby grinned at him. “Lucky duck,” she said, elbowing him in the ribs playfully. “Come on,” she said, looking to Sun now. “You gotta tell me. What was it like before all this crazy radiation shit?” 

“Same as now, minus the ghouls and super mutants,” Nick spoke up. 

Lou laughed. “Yeah and you weren't made of metal.”

Sun sat down, half draping herself over Hancock as she did. “Well where do you wanna start, Ruby?” She laughed. “You're the only who wants to hear about all this stuff so…”

Ruby looked thoughtful for a second, considering it. “What do you miss?” 

Sun tapped her fingers against Hancock’s leg. “Well, I miss not having to look over my shoulder everytime I go for a walk.” She shrugged. “And I miss painting and not stale, not mutated food. And,” she grinned looking over at Nick, “I miss espresso.”

 

Nick rolled his eyes. “Espresso is for the weak.” 

“Painting?” Preston asked from beside her. “Like...houses?” He frowned. 

Sun laughed. “No, not like houses.” She shook her head. “It was art.”

“Like portraits and stuff?” Ruby cocked her head to the side. 

Sun nodded. “Yeah, mostly. I did some landscapes too, but mostly I painted people. What I really liked doing was still life, but,” she threw up her hands. “Nobody wanted to buy those! Of course not, no. No, they always wanted me to paint them or their spouse or their family.” Sun laughed. “Sentimental assholes holding me back.”

“Wait, people paid you for this?” MacCready asked. 

“Well, yeah. Half at the start, half at the end.” She grinned. “No refunds.”

“What about Christmas though? What did you guys do on Christmas?” Ruby asked, looking between Sunshine and Nick.

Nick shrugged. “I don’t remember. I vaguely recall a Christmas tree in the corner of an apartment and that’s about it.” He looked over at Sun. “You?” He asked. 

“Well, my family never did much,” she admitted. “The family always got together of course and we’d talk and eat and when we were done we’d pass out our gifts.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t much different than what we’re doing now actually.” She smiled at Ruby. “One time though,” Sun began thoughtfully. “For Christmas, this old man asked me to paint his wife for him. He told me that she was dying and that this would be her last Christmas, so I wouldn’t let him pay me. I had to go to her house everyday for a month and paint her from there.” 

She smiled softly. “Her name was Emily and she always talked to me while I was painting. About everything,” Sun laughed. “And I mean, everything. She would talk about how she met her husband and her old cat and whatever book she was reading, just everything. I don’t think she had many friends she could talk to like that so, some days,” Sun told them quietly, her voice now barely audible even though the room had grown completely silent except for her. “I painted slower so she could talk longer.”

“Her husband, Dan came in to sit with us almost everyday when he got home from work. He would come in, kiss her on the cheek, ask how her day had been, and then come sit down on his stool next to me and watch me paint. And everyday, as soon as I set my brush down for the last time, he would try to pay me. And everyday, I would have to tell him no.” 

A silence filled the room after she was done with her story and for a long time no one spoke. “What happened to them?” Ruby asked, breaking the silence. “To Emily and Dan?”

“Emily died a month after I finished the painting,” Sun told them solemnly, staring at the floor, a frown on her face. “Dan moved away to live with his sister, who had also become sick.”

No one said anything for a long time, until, “Well,” Deacon clapped his hands together. “For Christmas, I usually go out and party with these two crazy guys up in Lexington and we eat old cereal out of the box before eventually passing out in an empty pool. Course,” he added, “they never did like my yodeling at the moon, so I guess that's why I wasn't invited back this year.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Charming.”

“What about you?” Lou nodded towards Hancock.

“Ahh, well, y’know,” he shrugged. “The normal stuff. Finding a tree. Mom cooked. Dad asked me and my brother to get along for Christmas. We wouldn't. We’d ruin Christmas. You know. Normal Christmas stuff,” he smiled. 

“Well,” Preston said. “My grandma always cooked bunch of Radstag cause the entire family would come up to her house and it would take that much just to feed us all.” He laughed, “And when everybody would finally get there, she’d have fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. One of us would always cover her up with a blanket and we’d all walk around really quiet so we wouldn’t wake her. And when she did wake up, she’d have to hug each and every one of us, one by one. She said she had to do it that way so none of us would feel left out.”

“I think I’d like to have met your grandma,” Sun said, laying a hand on his arm. 

Preston smiled. “I think she’d have liked to met you too.”

“What does your family do, Ruby?”

And that was when MacCready stood up. He had to go before they asked him. He wasn't going to tell that story today. Nope. “Going for a smoke,” he told them quickly and made his getaway out onto the balcony. He probably stood out there in the cold for a full minute before Lou came after him. 

“Whatcha doing out here in the cold, Mac? You hate the cold.” She leaned against the door she had just come through.

“I wanted to smoke,” he lied, hunching over against the wind. 

“You could smoke inside.” She brushed some show off the railing in front of them. 

“I didn't want to bother Ruby,” he half lied. It was true that she was a bit sensitive to smoke, but not sensitive enough that he would need to go outside. 

“Well, I don't see any cigarettes,” she huffed, coming to lean against the railing next to him. 

“I haven't gotten them out yet,” he told her and promptly pulled them from his pocket to prove his point. “What are _you_ doing out here?” He asked, sticking a cigarette between his lips. He patted his pockets, searching for his lighter. 

“Ah, I dunno. Didn't want to hear any more Christmas stories,” she shrugged. “That one Sun told about that old lady was...intense, right?” 

MacCready chucked. “Sun really knows how to kill a light mood.” 

He had flicked at his lighter for about the twentieth time when Lou finally let out an annoyed groan. “God, Mac, that lighter is such shit. Here.” She dug around her pocket for a second before offering out a shiny new lighter in the palm of her hand. “Merry Christmas, Old Man.”

He took it from her carefully. “Thank you,” he told her, examining the shiny little rectangle a small smile creeping onto his face. It only took one try to get his cigarette lit with it. “Really, Lou,” he said, “thanks.” MacCready tucked it into his pocket. 

 

“It's nothing, Mac. Just a lighter. Ain't anything special,” she told him, but blushed nonetheless. After a few minutes, she spoke again. “What are you really doing out here, Mac?”

“I’m smoking,” he told her and pointedly blew a puff of smoke in her direction.

Lou waved it away easily. “Mac,” she said, giving him a level look. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I just needed to, I don’t know, get away for few minutes.” He shrugged. “Holidays just bum me out, okay? Makes me miss Duncan and Lucy.”

Lou hummed, drawing in the snow on the railing. “I get that,” she nodded. “I get sad around Christmas too. It makes makes me miss my mom and dad,” she admitted. “My sister not so much if I'm honest,” she laughed hollowly. “But I miss them.”

“What happened to them?” He frowned realizing he had never questioned her about it.

She reached around with her left hand and tapped the scars on her back lightly with two fingers. “I told you the scars were from a Deathclaw, yeah?” She started spelling out the word in the snow, but stopped at ‘death’ with a frown. 

“Yeah.”

Abruptly, she wiped away what she had drawn in the snow. “Happened the same day. I was just luckier.” She drew a small shamrock with her pinky. “They told me to run and hide...So, I ran and hid.” She took a shuddering breath. “I waited for hours. When I finally worked up the courage to go back out…” she trailed off. 

He stubbed his cigarette out quickly and put an arm around her. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “If nothing else, you always got me though.” He squeezed her shoulder. 

Lou ducked her head, sniffing. “Shut up.” She moved away from his embrace with an elbow to his ribs. “If you make me cry, I’m gonna make _you_ cry.” She wiped at her eyes though, still sniffling. “Come on,” she told him. “It’s fucking freezing out here.”

“It's not much warmer in there,” he said. 

“Yeah, but at least there are blankets in here,” Lou said, opening the door for him. “Age before beauty, Old Man,” she told him with a wink. 

“Hey, I’m not much older than you.”

“And yet, you still act like an old man,” she told him and raced ahead of him to the couch. 

“Come on, MacCready,” Deacon said, sitting down. “We have gifts to give and receive. Spoiler alert: yours is a box of cereal.”

MacCready trudged back to his spot on the couch between Lou and Ruby. “Good,” he said. “I love cereal. Sorry, I can’t return the favor though. Nobody bothered to tell me we had to buy gifts.” MacCready eyed Sun pointedly. 

“What were you two doing out there? Having a heart to heart out in the cold?” 

“Fuck off, Deacon,” Lou told him and stuck her tongue out at him. Deacon just grinned, knowing he had hit the nail on the head with that one. 

Ruby nudged MacCready gently to get his attention, then pushed a small amount of caps into his hand. “I didn't know what to get you so…” she trailed off. 

He smiled down at her. “It's alright. Thank you,” he told her sincerely. “I appreciate it.” 

The rest of the gift giving bounced between sweet, comical, and strange. Hancock gave Sun a new hat. One, he said, that would properly match his. Lou gave Nick a mug that said “World's Best Detective” on it and Deacon gave them all boxes of old cereal, which no one really knew what to do with, but thanked him anyway. 

 

After all was said and done and they had all fallen quiet Sun stood up. “I’ll be back,” she promised them all before darting out the open door and across the hall into her and Hancock’s bedroom. 

Everyone looked at Hancock questioningly. He threw up his hands. “I’m just as confused as you guys.”

When she came back she had a book in hand. She grinned at Hancock, holding it up. 

“No,” he told her before she could even say anything. 

“Please.”

“No,” he groaned.

“What’s going on?” Ruby asked, not picking her head up off his shoulder where she had stayed resting it at some point during the gift giving. 

“She wants me to read aloud to everyone,” Hancock said. “And I'm not doing it,” he told Ruby pointedly. 

“Oh, yes he will,” Sun said. “Cause it’s Christmas and I’m asking.” She held the book out, giving him her best sad puppy dog look. 

He rolled his eyes, playfully snatching it from her hands. “Fine,” he whined, “but everybody’s gotta sit down and shut up.” He kicked his feet up on the table, flipping through the book a bit.

“We’ll be good,” Sun promised, snuggling down next to him with her blanket. 

Nick propped his feet up on the table next to Hancock’s and leaned his head back, putting his hat over his face. Lou and Ruby wiggled closer to MacCready, though both were just trying to steal his body heat. Still, they shared their blanket with him and he guessed that was fair enough. Preston sat down on the floor next to Dogmeat. He had his back against the couch, hat in his lap, and head leaned on Deacon’s leg for lack of a better prop. Deacon sat on the couch with his head leaned against Sun who was half draped over into Hancock’s lap. 

“Alright,” Hancock cleared his throat, flipping to first page. “Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.”

 

They all listened to him read, no one making a peep. Eventually, one by one, they all began to nod off, his voice managing to lull them all to sleep. 

Hancock sighed heavily and closed the book softly. His dark eyes flicked around over the people he had just put to sleep and he smiled. “Y’know, I think we got a nice little family here,” he told MacCready quietly. “Not quite what I expected,” he mused, “but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” 

MacCready raised an eyebrow at him. “You consider me family?” That came as a bit of a shock. He hadn’t even been sure they were friends. 

Hancock chuckled. “What? You think I keep you around cause you look nice?”

MacCready rolled his eyes. “I think you guys keep me around because I’m useful.”

“We keep you around cause we love you; plain and simple.” He sighed, looking down at Sun and brushing her hair back. “Love all you guys.” 

MacCready looked down at Ruby and Lou, who had both fallen asleep on him. “I guess I could say the same.” He really did care about them. All of them. Lou, Sun, Ruby, Nick, even Hancock. “Wouldn’t be here without any of you.” He sighed. “Wouldn’t be a lot of things without you guys. So...thanks.”

“Come on Mac. Just say it,” Hancock grinned at him playfully. “You love us. Come on. Say it.”

MacCready snorted “Alright, alright, fine.” He rolled his eye. “I love you guys.”

“Now there’s the Christmas spirit.” Hancock smiled. “You ever tell anybody I said any of this though and I’ll stab you in the kidney,” he said and MacCready wasn't entirely sure if he was joking. 

“Don’t worry. Your secrets are safe with me, guys,” Deacon spoke up quietly, not moving from where he was propped up against Sun. 

“You motherfucker.” Hancock reached across the back of the couch and thumped him in the back of the head with the book. 

“Merry Christmas to you too, Hancock.” Deacon rubbed the back of his head. 

“And a happy New Year,” MacCready added, snickering.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed everything, [TheWriterOfFira](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWriterOfFira/pseuds/TheWriterOfFira) I did my best! I hope it meets your MacCready standards lol. You're an absolute ray of sunshine and always make my smile so I hope you like it and have a wonderful Christmas. <3
> 
> And, of course, a huge thanks must go to [Jeepers_Creepers](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeepers_Creepers/pseuds/Jeepers_Creepers) for helping me edit this monster lol. You're the best and I probably wouldn't have gotten this written without you dude. So, thanks. 
> 
> Thanks for reading everyone and happy holidays! <3


End file.
